UK Premier Rishi Sunak urges for humanitarian pause in Gaza
Istanbul, Turkey - UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged an immediate end on Saturday to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, emphasising the release of hostages and the urgent delivery of aid by all means possible.
“This terrible conflict must end. The hostages must be released. The aid - which we have been straining every sinew to deliver by land, air and sea - must be flooded in,” Sunak said in a statement on the six-month anniversary of the October 7 attack by Hamas against Israel. He described it as ‘the most appalling attack in Israel’s history’ and said it was ‘the worst loss of Jewish life since World War II’.
“Six months later, Israeli wounds are still unhealed. Families still mourn and hostages are still being held,” noted Sunak.
He condemned the ongoing ‘bloodshed’ and the recent killing of British aid workers while affirming the UK’S support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism. The toll on civilians in Gaza has only worsened with ‘hunger, desperation, and loss of life’ persisting on an ‘awful scale’, he said.
Sunak also urged a ‘humanitarian pause’ leading to a ‘sustainable ceasefire’ to alleviate the suffering of children in Gaza and to promote ‘peace, dignity, and security’ for ‘both Israelis and Palestinians’. “That is the fastest way to get hostages out and aid in and to stop the fighting and loss of life,” he added.
Meanwhile, the British foreign secretary warned on Saturday of the dire situation and ‘real’ famine risk in the Gaza Strip as the UK announced the deployment of a Royal Navy ship to join a humanitarian mission in the region. The British government announced a package of military and civilian support ‘to set up a maritime aid corridor to Gaza’, including the deployment of a Royal Navy ship to join the lifesaving mission in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“The ship will support the establishment of an international humanitarian maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, supported by many of our partner governments and the UN, and is expected to be operational in early May,” according to a statement by the Foreign Office and the Defence Ministry.